This invention relates generally to air conditioning and more particularly to a portable cooling unit that cools, or heats, a small area.
In today""s modern world, travelers, for business or pleasure, may easily find themselves in a sleeping situation that does not meet the comforts available in their own residence. For instance, residents from the northern states of the United States may find sleeping in the Caribbeans a most uncomfortable experience if air conditioning is not available. However, if many such areas air conditioning is not available for the local residents believe the ocean breeze is sufficient. This could quickly spoil a vacation or business trip for the unsuspecting visitor.
Opening a window is often not helpful because various bugs such as mosquitos, moths, and gnats may then enter the room providing further disruptions from sleep. Additionally, the traveler may be disturbed by outside noises, further disturbing their sleep.
Lack of sleep may cause, among other symptoms, irritability and decreased concentration. A person experiencing these symptoms may not be in peak form while conducting a business deal or may not enjoy their travels. Thus, what is lacking in the art is a means for cooling a small sleeping area that is lightweight, portable, and requires low voltage making it inexpensive to operate and suitable for use in most any environment.
Air conditioning units have been used in the prior art to provide fixed and portable cooling of enclosed spaces. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,132,262; 5,165,127; 5,125,238; 4,064,835; 5,632,051 and 4,388,738 all disclose various permutations of heating and cooling blankets or mattress utilizing fluid or air means for transferring heat away from a body in contact with the blanket or mattress or directing cool air onto a body in contact by channels placed throughout the blanket or mattress fabric.
The prior art of the first class is generally limited by the temporary cooling capacity of the coolants and by the necessity of and efforts associated with transferring said coolants to the air-conditioning units on a regular basis to maintain cooling capacity. Said maintenance necessitates the use of auxiliary devices, such as conventional freezer units to charge said coolants, which may be bulky, stationary, and costly.
The prior art of the second class is generally limited in size to a bed-size mattress or blanket requiring physical contact with the end user to accomplish its objective. Such contact may be physically impracticable due to a variety of medical conditions and the subject""s movement is considerably restricted. Further, the use of a blanket prevents observation of a subject, if desired and the use of a mattress may require the concomitant use of a blanket or other means for containing the cool environment to promote efficiency of use.
The instant invention is a lightweight, hand portable air conditioner with an attachment that encloses a small area such as a bed. The housing unit is defined by a top surface, a bottom surface, four sides, and an inner cavity. Within two opposing sides of the four sides are vents. The housing unit is approximately the size of a medium rectangular suitcase and has at least one wheel, preferably four, so that it can be pulled or pushed by a traveler in the same manner travelers transport their suitcases through airports. The housing unit has a flat top upon which the traveler may place other luggage.
Residing along the top sides are two, one along each side, hollow poles. The hollow poles are of the telescopic extension type, i.e. when not in use, the hollow poles are of minutely smaller diameters with sections of a set length that fit inside of each other such that when in use, the pole will extend the length of the number of sections. When extended, the poles will be similar to a V-shape with the closed end of the V originating from the top surface of the housing unit and the open end of the V extending outward therefrom. If the housing unit is placed at the end of a bed, the extended poles will reach to the head of the bed. The poles can then be draped with a suitable material thus forming an enclosure for a sleeping traveler.
In the preferred embodiment, the housing unit will have two stabilizers, one on opposite sides of two of the four sides of the housing unit. The stabilizers will pivot from an upward angle to a downward angle such that the housing unit is securely anchored when in use or storage. Preferably, the housing unit will also have a handle at one end for the traveler to use for pulling or pushing the unit.
The cavity will house a compressor, two propeller fans operated by a central motor, and two hoses. The two hoses extend from the compressor with a first hose extending to a heat portion side of the cavity and a second hose extending to a cool portion side of the cavity. Both the heat portion side and the cool portion side are directly in front of the vents within the two sides of the housing unit. The motor is between the two propeller fans and there is a fan in front of the heat portion side and the cool portion side.
In operation, the compressor takes a compressible cooling fluid known as a refrigerant and compresses the gas from into a liquid form. The cooled liquid refrigerant will pass through the second hose to a coil in the cool portion side of the cavity. The coil will be cooled by the expanding refrigerant gas. The propeller fan, operated by the central motor in a conventional manner well known in the art, will blow the cooled air through the vent in the side of the housing unit into the enclosure provided by the suitable material draped over the extended poles. The warmed refrigerant gas will return to the compressor through a conduit. As a result, a sleeping traveler within the enclosure will stay cool and comfortable all night.
Accordingly, it is an objective of the instant invention to disclose a lightweight, portable cooling/heating unit.
It is a further objective of the instant invention to disclose an inexpensive cooling/heating unit.
It is yet another objective of the instant invention to disclose a method for cooling or heating a small enclosed area.
Other objectives and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein are set forth, by way of illustration and example, certain embodiments of this invention. The drawings constitute a part of this specification and include exemplary embodiments of the present invention and illustrate various objects and features thereof.